Orkula Shaagee
17 September 2008
Super Eagles Head Coach, Shaibu Amodu yesterday said the invitation of six members of the country's Under-23 players to the Super Eagles for the 2010 World Cup/Nations Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone is in line with his plan for the team.
He said the six invited players are among the 50-man list earlier released by the technical crew to build a new Super Eagles team.
According to the former BCC Lions and Orlando Pirates of South Africa coach, the invitation was not based on the exploit of the players at the Beijing Olympic Games, but in line with the original plan the technical crew drew to invite any of the players at appro-priate time into the senior team.
"There invitation is not as result of their performance at the Olympics, but as a result of the plans that we have from day one because most of these players featured in the 50-man list of players that we produced.
"We said that at appropriate time when we are convenient and comfor-table, depending on the kind of mat-ches we have, everybody will be given a look in, and there is no better time than now to call these set of players.
"Some of the players we used in prosecuting the matches we have played so far are the ones that I know very well, and beside that we saw them play in Ghana, though things may have not worked well, but that does not mean we should throw away the child with the bath water.
"So when we came in, we thought they were the people that can make the foundation of our team under which we have to build up for the future. So, for the immediate programme; long and short term programme, we felt we should use these players that we are used to and then gradually see how some of these new boys can fit in.
"Then, with the last game we thought we should bring them in, not that we are playing Sierra Leone but we should be able to look at them and have a one-on-one relationship with them and see how they behave on and outside the field, and see whether they can be part of the future plan for the next stage of the qualifiers that is why they are here", Amodu said.
He however said the invitation of the Olympics Eagles to the senior side is not a license for a first team shirt, saying they may not make the line-up against Sierra Leone.
Amodu also condemned in totality the debate on whether U-23 coach Samson Siasia be drafted to take over the handling of Super Eagles or not, saying such was unnecessary.
Amodu, who made the condem-nation in Abuja, said such debate is capable of generating bad blood and disunity in the Nigerian football family, which requires total concentration to forge ahead.
The former BCC Lions and El-Kanemi Warriors tactician, who also accused some media houses, said the campaign can not succeed, as both himself and Siasia are not ready to shoulder the ugly incidence.
"I don't see any sense in the debate. I don't have anything to say about it other than to say it is a worthless distraction.
"The truth is that Samson Siasia and I are good brothers and can always work together, if the NFF decides so. The NFF appointed Siasia to handle the U-23 team and Amodu to handle the Super Eag-les. They are in charge, so it is the NFF's decision that will matter in this case.
"We have important games coming up and the least we want is distraction", Amodu said.
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